Freedom plan no longer available

Six month ago we signed up with Exede on an Evolution/Freedom plan. For 6 months we were to get Freedom 150gb plan paying the Evolution rate ($80), and after the six months we would have the option of staying with the Freedom plan at ($100). We use about 40gb of data per month.

Six months were up a few days ago; no communication from Exede asking if we wanted to move to the Freedom plan. After a few calls and reading messages on the online forum I can see why there was no communication. Other people have had this same problem. The Freedom plan is apparently not an option as it was a few months ago. Today, we have the option of staying with the Evolution 20gb plan which is not enough data, or paying $150 per month for a 30gb Liberty plan......

We consider this to be a dishonest business practice; a bait and switch tactic. We signed a contract with Exede because the plans and speeds they offered us were the best we could find in our area. Yes, things may change....... More customers / more data usage in a given area may mean more strain on the data stream. But, clearly Exede has made business decisions to the disadvantage of existing customers who signed up for one thing and now find ourselves with no reasonable options.

I will contact their customer advocate tomorrow and if I get no satisfaction I will be lodging complaints with the BBB and others, as well as alerting people in the community of Exede's very poor business practices.

This same thing happened to me a year ago. I wasn't under a promo but saw that Evolution was available in my area and after two days of contemplating I decided to switch but surprise, when I went to switch it was no longer available. I found out I literally missed it by hours.

The EXACT same thing happened to me. I work from home and use about 100gb of data every month. The Freedom plan was my best option and the rep I spoke to said "save some $ and go with the Evolution promo plan for 6 months". And now I can't get the Freedom plan. A complete and pure "bait and switch".I contacted customer service this morning and they were no help. If I can't get further resolution, I will be filing a complaint with the BBB as well.

Yep, unfortunately contract offers and business practices evolve in time. I just missed out on no monthly lease fee, forever. Also missed going to the 25 GB Classic Plan because I hesitated too long. It's like when I'm shopping and my wife says "If you see it in the store today and want it, you better buy it, because you may never get the chance again."

Where did you even see the offer to get no lease fee forever? This is the problem, Exede doesn't make customers aware of things like this. I only stumble across them usually after someone else complains it isn't available any longer.

Back a month or so ago, I went through the online order process just to see the total and up to the point of ordering (since I'd have to subscribe directly to get the Liberty Plan on 329). At that time, three options were offered to new customers - monthly lease, prepaid 24 month lease and lifetime. Don't recall the actual lifetime cost but for some reason $299 sticks in my head.

Yes, lifetime lease is the correct terminology. Back when Exede first came on line it was offered and I wanted it, but by the time I could get an installer here, it was no longer offered. OR perhaps it was only offered to new customers and when it was realized that I was transitioning from Wildblue, I wasn't eligible.

When I upgraded from Wildblue to Exede in April 2012 I was offered the lifetime lease option. I went for it, that $299 number sticks in my head for it. Shortly after that it was no longer an option, but recently they have begun offering it again.

The worst part of all of this is that if Exede had simply sent an email out to all of its subscribers in each area PRIOR to changing the available plans say at least 48 hours, maybe a week before they make the change, none of these complaints would be here. I have NEVER ONCE gotten an email informing me either of new plans coming or the discontinuation of old plans. Amazing in a world of technology that this isn't possible.

Please note the moderators have edited the title of this post. It was "Welcome to the World of Exede Manipulation". It was not "Freedom plan no longer available" originally. (Starring Matter's comment would make more sense in this light.)

I am very well versed in plans and data, but have to say the Exede plans are the most confusing things ever. I have two accounts, one for my primary residence, and one for a seasonal cabin. Only went over 10gb twice since the satellite got launched. That was Netflix the first week we had it, and my mom visiting who kept upgrading her iPad software. So I ran out this month, and they gave 5gb, and it was gone within a day. Christmas Day. Now mind you I wasn't home, and the password is well protected. I live in the middle of nowhere. Regardless. When I call them it's just confusion. They want me to upgrade, although I've never used more than 7gb in a month. They told me FaceTime can do it, but I don't use it and wouldn't even think of it. I'm looking for detailed data on usage and I can't find it while logging in. I guess I'll have to call them again and they can tell me I need to upgrade.

I've been happy with Wildblue and Excede for years. HughesNet was a disaster. But I have heard they have figured out their problems, mainly customer service. But I'm not at all excited for more people crawling around my roof to put dishes up. Oh well. Could be worse.

I believe after really thinking about it, the Liberty Plans may be a better deal for anyone looking at Freedom anyway. Freedom has a 150 GB limitation that once hit, they may ask you to moderate usage or find another provider. Liberty does not have this limitation (at least not documented anywhere). Unless you are on a congested Beam, Liberty will give you satisfactory speeds for just about everything you might want to do throughout the day.

Holy smokes! The same thing has happened to me. I went into the store to sign up for the Freedom plan. That is what I wanted. Well the store talked me into signing up for the 20GB plan but I would get the Freedom plan as a promotion. Now the Freedom plan is no longer available and all that Exede's customer service will tell me is "sorry for the confusion". Well I am pissed. I wanted the larger plan dang it and I wish that Exede would offer it to us.

From what I understand the Freedom Plan should have been available for you to switch to for as long as you were on the Promo. So if the promo was 6 months you should have been able to switch to it any time during the 6 months. If the 6 months goes by and you did not switch, then I could see Freedom as not being an option as it was now in month 7. Can you confirm that you went to switch from the promo to the actual Freedom Plan during the promo and were not allowed? If that is the case then one of the Exede folks should be able to correct this oversight.

For those that have seen things change, please note the following in the customer agreement:

Modification of the Service. We may discontinue, add to or revise any or all aspects of the Service in our sole discretion and without notice, including, without limitation, access to support services, publications and any other products or services ancillary to the Service. In particular, we reserve the right in our sole discretion to modify, supplement, delete, discontinue or remove any software, file, publications, information, communication or other content that we or one of our vendors provide to you in connection with the Service. If we undertake any of these changes, we may, but are not required to, notify you by e-mail, posting a notice on one or more of the ViaSat websites or other electronic notice. If you do not agree to the identified changes, then you must cancel your subscription and stop using the Service prior to the effective date of the changes. Your use of the Service after the effective date of the changes constitutes your acceptance of the changes. In addition, we may take any action consistent with our Acceptable Use, Data Allowance and Bandwidth Usage Policies and Email End User License Agreement, including, without limitation, actions to (a) prevent unsolicited bulk e-mailing from entering or leaving any e-mail account or the network e-mail system, (b) delete e-mail messages if your e-mail account has not been accessed by you within a time established by us from time to time, in our sole discretion, (c) instruct our system not to process e-mail or instant messages due to space limitations, (d) make available to third parties information relating to ViaSat or its subscribers, (e) withdraw, change, suspend or discontinue any functionality or feature of the Service, (f) delete attachments to e-mail due to potentially harmful materials included within such attachment, and (g) limit access to the Service to prevent abusive consumption.

Interesting this part in particular:

In particular, we reserve the right in our sole discretion to modify, supplement, delete, discontinue or remove any software, file, publications, information, communication or other content that we or one of our vendors provide to you in connection with the Service. If we undertake any of these changes, we may, but are not required to, notify you by e-mail, posting a notice on one or more of the ViaSat websites or other electronic notice. If you do not agree to the identified changes, then you must cancel your subscription and stop using the Service prior to the effective date of the changes.

So, Exede can make any changes they want to the service and are NOT required to make any notifications to the consumer prior to the changes, BUT if you know about the changes and do not agree with the changes, they give you, the consumer, the right to cancel your subscription (implied no Term fees? ... had the same thing happen with Verizon cell service and since it was a modification to the agreed upon service, they could not hold me to my contract - not that the goal for Exede or most users is to go their separate ways, but my point is this might be an option if you are just that angry over any changes).

(Edit) The Term fees may or may not apply here, that is up to Exede and the consumer to work out. From a customer point of view if Exede modifies my service to something it was not when I agreed to it, they should not hold me to the agreement. I would have to think they work with customers to ensure that a good resolution is found in these cases.

Also found in the agreement:

Upon notice published on the ViaSat website applicable to your Service: www.exede.com or www.wildblue.com, we may modify this Agreement, including, without limitation, our pricing and billing terms. We may, but are not required to, also notify you by e-mail or other electronic notice. If you do not agree to such changes or additions, then you must terminate this Agreement in accordance with Section 4.3 below and stop using the Service within five days after the effective date of such modifications. Your continued use of the Service after this five-day period constitutes your acceptance of such modifications. If a change results in an increase of the monthly fee by more than 25%, however, you may terminate your Service, without incurring the Termination Fee and/or any other applicable termination fee, by calling us within 30 days after the first statement reflecting such changes is issued

You have five days from the time any changes to your actual agreement being made to terminate service as well. They also again are not responsible to notify you of these changes. Continued use beyond the five days means you agree with the changes. The only exceptiom os of the modification increases your monthly fee by more that 25% you have 30 days from the first statement date to terminate your service and NOT incur any termination fees.

Bottom line here, is that Exede gives you (the consumer) options to decide to continue to use their service when they change things if you are under the contract. I personally am not under contract so it is not a problem for me if I do not like the service, I can just cancel. That being said, Exede has earned my business and my trust and has always worked with me to come to a resolution with any issues I have taken to them regarding my service or billing.

As to the Freedom plan not being available, in the end the Liberty plans give you much higher data usage per month for the trade-off of lower speeds. The nice thing about areas that had the Freedom plans is that you will likely always see speeds at the 5 Mpbs mark or better when on Liberty Pass.

Thanks Brian, I guess the thing that upsets me is Exede's only comment to me was "Sorry for the confusion". They did not offer any help or other resolution. AKA customer service. I was told by the store where I bought the service to wait until the promotion ended and then switch to the Freedom plan.

If you have the Liberty Plan available in your area and you are not using the 3:00 AM to 8:00 AM free zone in your area then I would advise switching to the Liberty Plans as they actually have no specified data cap whereas the Freedom did. Aditionally, if Freedom was available in your area youvrpobable are not on a congested Beam so even on Liberty you would likely get the higher end of the 5 Mbps speeds once over your Priority data. It works better than Evolution once over data for the month and you can do more with it.